Darcy
by TMJones
Summary: The year after graduation, Yugi and Yami are living together in the same apartment without items, magic, or a mind link. And their lives change for the better, when a strange cockatoo works her way into their lives. (YYY, oneshot)


A/N: Okay—a few things before we start; THIS HAS SPOILERS, SOMEWHAT. I watched the last episode of the entire series in Japanese, which was very interesting and confusing at the same time. 

So I've now seen most of the beginning, a few episodes in the middle, and the very last episode. And I've read the first five manga, and snippets of the ones after it (thank you, Shonen Jump).

Anyway—the point I'm trying to make is that my knowledge of the plotline is very spotty. I've filled the holes with whatever I fancied throwing in there, to make the story more whole and interesting. So bear with me when you see something that isn't quite how the actual plotline goes—it's because I don't know. But, it's fanfiction anyway, so that kind of thing is expected from us writers, right?

(chorus of writer's voices yell back "RIGHT!")

Thought so.

And that brings me to my other point; This was originally my entry for a challenge on this yahoo group I'm a part of. We were given a list of sentences to chose from, and we had to write a one-shot on it by a specific date. This is the original sentence I chose to write/expand on…

—Yugi stared at the bird trapped inside the cage. "Hello, hello, say hello you fucking thing!" he demanded, trying to get the bird to talk. "Come on Aibou, we're going." Yami said as he walked by the bird. "Pretty!" it chirped.—

…And this is the (very fluffy!) end result.

Have fun, everyone.

Title: Darcy

* * *

Yami knew his Egyptian self would never think for a second he, a pharaoh, would be doing _this_, when he was in his mid-twenties. Well—it's how old he assumed he was. He had 'died' in ancient Egypt around that age, anyway, and he hadn't actually been around that long, in this other world he had been woken up in. Only a few years. 

He pulled another plate out of the dishwater, rinsed it, and put it on the dish rack beside him.

Commoner's work, he would have thought. He was sure of it.

But now, in a life five thousand years removed, things were a lot different. For one, Yami was in Japan, not Egypt. For another, he worked for money, not for a country's survival. And he lived in an apartment, not a palace. He spent the time he wasn't working doing things he considered relaxing—and that's where the dishes came in.

Originally, he and Yugi had agreed to split up the work. They split up the rent, they could split up its upkeep. But Yami had soon discovered that he actually liked this whole cleaning thing; he found that he liked being responsible for a part of the world—even if it was extremely small, compared to a kingdom. Yugi joked that he couldn't let go of the whole 'leader of my domain' thing.

Yami put another plate in the dish rack. Maybe he was right. After all, he took over the job of everything to do with the apartment—right down to the plants in the windowsill the previous owner had left there, for some strange reason.

But it wasn't like Yugi was complaining about it. In fact, he even commented on Yami's sudden interest in such domestic things—something along the lines of questioning Yami's manlihood. It had only been a joke, they both knew, but Yami still had fun with his comeback; something about asking if Yugi cared to compare.

Yugi's expression, after he had realized just what Yami had meant, had been priceless. The man really was too innocent for his own good.

One would think that after graduating high school, getting a job, and moving into the big, cold world that Yugi would have been forced out of that innocent persona of his. Yet… it was as alive as when Yami first laid eyes on him, in his soul room. It still baffled Yami.

But there were still some differences between Yugi then and Yugi now. He was more independent than ever; he rarely asked for help anymore, and he was much more honest and blunt about things

Everyone had changed, Yami realized, since High school. They'd all spread out now—the cards were set aside, colleges were attended, and jobs were taken up.

Anzu, now a full-time student at a dance school on the other side of the country, was much more focused and serious than she had been in High School.

Ryou was less shy, and more outgoing. He was making lots of new friends at his college. Granted, they were mostly girls, but that fact that he was meeting new people was enough for Yami.

Bakura, amazingly enough, hadn't immediately caused death and destruction after he had been given his own body. Yami was just waiting for it to happen, though; he'd already set a few things on fire, but Ryou had been there to put them out again before the police had gotten involved.

Jou and Honda were going to the same college nearby, keeping up their GPO, or A, or whatever it was. Yami couldn't remember what Yugi called it. He just knew that Honda's parents seemed very intent on his raising it.

The Kaibas were doing all right; Seto had gotten a little better at social situations, but he was still a little too rough around the edges for those who didn't know him. Mokuba was in eighth grade now, which Yami couldn't quite wrap his mind around; he'd always been the little kid. And now, it was one more year before he was off to high school.

Yami himself was…he paused, in his rinsing of a cup, and thought for a moment. He was calm, now, unmoved by such things as insults or challenges. He found that he just took them as they came, and didn't make too much of a deal out of them. He was quieter, now, as he thought about things more. He had become almost philosophical, in a sense.

He knew he hadn't been that way when Yugi had put the puzzle together. He had been like that old self he was so well acquainted with, frozen in time until fate decided to pull him out of its sleeve and into play again. And that day Yugi put the last piece on the puzzle had been the day fate played its strangest, most baffling card.

That's what Yami felt like he was—an ambiguous card. He didn't know why he was still here, even. Technically, he was an ancient spirit. He should have been laid to rest along with all the other millennium items, when they were taken back to their rightful place last summer—in the depths of Egypt. Or, more specifically, Yami's own tomb.

_That_ had been creepy, to say the least. Especially given the sudden, shocking flashes of memory that seized Yami with every step he took, every wall engraving he read…every item he saw tucked away in corners of rooms, and even those excavated by archaeologists, decades back. He remembered them all, as if he were seeing them as they were thousands of years ago. He saw people sitting in the chairs, relatives standing in doorways, and his own self discussing a papyrus scroll of plans with someone he immediately knew to be an advisor of some sort. It had all intrigued him, amazed him, and utterly frightened him.

But what had been the strangest of all was what happened after all the millennium items had been placed in their original storage place; the stone they had all been kept in, at one brief point during his lifetime. Everyone Yami and Yugi had befriended had come with them, to see it all finally come to an end, after almost two years of life-threatening battles and stressful, trying situations. The entire conflict was laid to rest that day—forever.

Yami remembered clearly Yugi putting the millennium puzzle back into its place, filling in the last empty shape carved into the massive rock before them. Immediately after, a bright light had beamed out of the rock, enveloping them all in a golden haze as bright as the sun. Then the rumbling had started.

The items had fallen through a large crack that had suddenly split in the floor, along with shards of the stone. Ancient rock started crashing around them, as the tomb started to cave in on itself. One commanding shout from Kaiba, and everyone had started to run towards the exit. Of course, Yami had followed behind them, running as fast as he was able—

But as he did, something within him hesitated, pulling him the other direction. He had slowed down, trying to figure out what that feeling was, not quite knowing what to make of it. Everyone else had urged him on—even Kaiba had paused to yell something obscene at him. But it was Yugi's voice that had snapped him back to the urgency of the situation, and Yugi's hand that had pulled him the rest of the way.

And the feeling didn't stop when they were outside the now destroyed tomb, either. Except now, he felt as if something was slipping away. The further away he walked from the pile of still smoking debris, the more he felt like something inside himself was leaking onto the sand around him, soaking through the ground to return to his own grave.

Another part of him had wanted to go back and see if he could find out what it was, exactly, that was lost. But at that point, Yugi still had a hold of his arm, and he was clenching it so tightly Yami didn't think he would be letting go anytime soon. He hadn't complained out loud—partly because he didn't know if this… feeling was a bad thing, or not.

But ever since then, he had been different. He wasn't as stubborn anymore, or as easily agitated, or angered. He knew that in his past life, he was a commanding, almost cold pharaoh, trained to rule a people from the time he could walk. Where all that had gone, now, and just how much of it had gone… Yami could only guess.

Yami stared out the kitchen window into the trafficked streets down below, and the messy sides of worn buildings stretching out in front of him.

Very different from endless hills of sand.

But not entirely bad, either. Just… different.

* * *

Yami heard the front door slam, and angered footsteps in the front hallway. A few seconds later, Yugi came into the living room looking like death warmed over. Yami, who was now drying the dishes, simply asked from the kitchen, 

"So how'd work go?"

"Horrible," Yugi replied miserably, and Yami heard him flop down onto the couch. "I swear, I'm going to wring Reiko's _neck_, next time I see her! And do you know how many people haven't been working on that project I told you about! It's been _hell_…"

Yami picked up another plate and continued to dry it, one ear turned towards Yugi's ranting. Yugi eventually got so agitated just talking about his day that he stood up again, and started pacing around the living room, dipping in and out of Yami's view through the kitchen doorway. Every once in a while, Yami would pause for a few moments to watch him when Yugi had his back turned, or was so involved in what he was saying that he didn't see what was in front of him.

He remembered that kind of frustration. He remembered being so agitated about something that he just couldn't stay still; he had to walk around, talk, fiddle with his hands, do something to ease the tension as his mind dismissed itself to think about the bigger things at hand. If it were a game, he would read his cards over and over again, even if he knew them like the back of his hand—part of the reason why he knew them so well as cards.

Thinking about that must have triggered something—because all the sudden, Yami had a vision of being in the middle of the desert, fiddling with the reins of his horse while trying to make a quick judgment. He tried to remember what he was deciding, or even who he was with—

"Hello?"

Yami blinked, and registered that there was a hand waving in front of his face. He looked over at Yugi.

"Oh—Sorry."

"Thinking again?"

"Yeah.." Yami replied, shaking his head. Yugi sighed, and sat down at the small, rickety wooden table they had wedged into the corner of the kitchen, on one of the two equally unstable chairs.

"Anything interesting?"

Yami shrugged, drying his hands.

"Unless you count fiddling with horse's reins as interesting, then no."

"Ah," Yugi said knowingly, "One of your memories again?"

Yami nodded, frowning a little.

"It was really strange… I could remember sitting on the horse, and holding the reins, but… not much else…the air was different…"

Yugi shook his head. "They're just not the same when you have to explain them."

"I know," Yami replied, sitting down on the other rickety chair, "Like a dream that I don't really remember…."

"They were always like that, though," Yugi said. "It's just now, without the link…I can only imagine what they're like. Sometimes I don't even know what you're talking about."

Yami agreed with another nod.

It was another little strangeness that they both had to get used to; now that the puzzle was deep underneath the earth, he and Yugi no longer had a mind link. They didn't have soul rooms anymore, and Yami couldn't call on any kind of powers effectively. He had tried a couple times, to do some kind of magic; but all that had come out were a few sparks of light, and perhaps the electricity would wink out for a few milliseconds. Nothing earth-shattering.

And considering that this was the first time Yami had ever been without any kind of magic, it was the hardest thing to get used to. But he really didn't want to think about that, now.

"Anyway," he said, getting up from the chair, "we should probably head over to the store, before it closes."

"Store?" Yugi asked, as he watched Yami go to the other end of the apartment.

"Pet store? Cat?" Yami called from the coat closet, trying to jog Yugi's memory.

"Oh, yeah…" Yugi said, slowly pulling himself up. "Hold on—ack!"

There was a thump, as the chair fell out from under him, and he hit the floor.

"Ow…"

"Here," Yami said, throwing Yugi's coat next to him, his own already over his arm, "It's kind of cold, out there." He held out his hand for Yugi to pull himself up on, though Yugi didn't take it right away. But Yami just waited.

After a stressful day at work followed by a very long rant to Yami, Yugi was usually very low on energy. It was only when Yami reminded him that it was his idea to get a cat in the first place that Yugi finally took Yami's hand and let himself be pulled to his feet.

Their apartment was on the fifth story of the building, and it was old enough (and small enough) that there was no place where an elevator could be conveniently installed. So, every time Yugi and Yami had to go out somewhere, they had to keep alert and careful of where they stepped, as some of the carpet was loose and would easily send an unsuspecting pedestrian flying down to the next landing. And it usually wasn't a pleasant fall, either; there were odd nails here and there that had been slowly working themselves out of the carpeting for some time now that always loved to snag whatever came past them. Yami had found this out the hard way, about three days after they had moved in.

Unfortunately, a low-energy Yugi didn't really watch where he was going. So when Yugi was about halfway down the first flight of stairs, Yami heard, "Whoa—!" from behind him, and turned around just in time to see Yugi smack into him full force, and send him down the last three steps and flat on his back on the fourth-floor landing.

He groaned, lifting his head in an attempt to sit up the rest of the way—but found a pair of large violet eyes staring at him.

"You all right?" Yugi asked.

"Um…"

"Oh! Sorry!" Yugi said, suddenly realizing that he was right on top of him. He rolled off, and Yami sat up, holding his head.

"You okay?" Yugi asked again.

"Calm down, I'm fine," Yami assured him, as he stood up. "I just fell." He shook his head to clear it a little more, and blinked to make sure he was seeing straight.

"Well, you weren't saying anything…"

"I was dazed," Yami replied. "Railing!" he added. Yugi's hand immediately flew to the railing on the side, as he continued down the steps.

And as an added insurance, Yami went ahead and waited for him at each landing—just to make sure he didn't skewer himself on a nail, or something.

And considering that Yami had to catch him a couple more times on the way down, he stood firmly by his claim to the driver's seat. Yes, he had been driving for a shorter period of time (Yugi had taught him once he had a grasp on it), but he had been driving to his job at the museum every day for the four months he had had it, and he hadn't gotten into a wreck yet. Yugi didn't argue with him, after that.

When they got in, Yami fished around for what he had left there that morning, on accident, on his drive to the museum.

"Here," Yami said when he had found the mug. Yugi took the lid off and peered inside carefully—then shut it again.

"It's coffee."

"You're tired," Yami replied. "And this is your pet we're going to get. Drink it."

Yami didn't have to look to know what kind of face Yugi was making. He also didn't have to look to know that Yugi would drink it, too.

Yami had noticed that, as much as Yugi didn't like coffee, he didn't complain when Yami told him he was too tired to function without it. Yami guessed it came from being in such fast-paced situations together that neither of them had time to ask why the other one told them to do something; it happened so often for a while, they had just taken each other's word for it. Then it became a habit that had carried over to calmer, safer surroundings.

This was Yami's theory, anyway.

"It's not exactly my pet…" Yugi said, after a while.

"You want it," Yami pointed out, "You've been talking about having a cat since we moved in."

"Well, the cat's just an idea. But whatever it is, we're both going to be living with it for a while."

"True. Still—if it were up to me, I'd never go out and get one."

"You don't want one?" Yugi asked.

"No, I do," Yami replied, "I'm just saying that I never would have…gotten out there to find it, if you hadn't said anything."

"Oh," Yugi said. Then, after a while, he asked,

"But if it were up to you…what kind of pet _would_ you get?"

It took Yami a while to think of something, since he wasn't that familiar with the names of cats. He finally settled on one whose name he had run across a few times while reading, and whose shape and general looks he liked.

"Siamese, I think they're called…?"

"Oh, yeah," Yugi said, "The ones with the black ears and feet and tail?"

"Yeah, I think those are them," Yami said.

"I don't know what I'd pick…" Yugi said. He shrugged, "I just figured we'd pick something together."

"Ah," Yami said. They both fell silent again.

When Yugi had downed enough of the coffee to become somewhat alert again, he started paying attention to what was flying by, outside.

"…You do know where the pet shop is, right?" He asked.

"No."

"Then… where are we going?" Yugi's tone was a little apprehensive, Yami noticed.

Yami shrugged.

"I was waiting for you to wake up to tell me where to go."

"So you've been driving around pointlessly, for—" Yugi checked the clock, "An hour!'

"Maybe."

"Yami!"

"What?" Yami asked, sensing a very annoyed tone in Yugi's voice.

"I don't know where it is from here! I don't even know where here is, right now!"

"All right," Yami said, surprised at how easily Yugi was panicking about this, "I'll just go back to where you do know. Don't bite my head off."

"I'm not biting your head off!"

"Yes you are," Yami replied, as he turned left at an intersection, "You're panicking."

"_I'm_ just surprised you'd be willing to waste gas on not going anywhere."

"Well _I_ happen to like it." Yami said. "And what was I supposed to do, stop until the coffee hit?" He heard Yugi put the mug back down into the cup holder that they knew would only keep the mug there for about three minutes, before it disappeared again into the depths of the messy car again.

"No," Yugi said, "But you could have asked me."

"You almost fell down three flights of stairs! Including the first one! If I had asked you for directions the minute we got in the car, I wouldn't have been able to understand them!"

"And you're saying I'm getting panicked?" Yugi asked.

"_I'm_ getting mad," Yami stated, "There's a difference."

"Whatever."

Yami frowned.

"What is _with_ you all the sudden?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're… moody, or something. I don't even know what to call it."

"You've been here long enough," Yugi retorted. "You _should_ know."

"I know some damn good words in Egyptian, _Aibou_."

"You say it like it's a bad thing," Yugi stated.

Yami would have said, 'I'm beginning to think it is,' but he bit his tongue. Yes, he was mad, but he didn't want to say something he didn't mean. It sounded mean even in his head. Instead, he took a deep breath, and collected his rational thoughts together.

"Look," He said, after a while, "Just because you're having a bad time at work doesn't mean you get to come home and take it out on me."

"I'm not—"

"You're never this worked up about directions!"

"Let me finish my sentence!"

"Fine!" Yami said, "Finish it!"

"Hey! There it is!"

"What?"

"The pet shop!"

Yami pulled into the nearest parking spot neatly and effortlessly.

"Anyway," Yugi said, "I don't mean to take it out on you."

"I know," Yami said, cutting the ignition. "It just feels like it."

Yugi closed his eyes, and sighed.

"Sorry…" He said. "It's just—"

"Stress," Yami finished shortly. "I know."

They both got out of the car, and walked into the shop. Immediately, a myriad of noises approached their ears, as well as every kind of color one could imagine on an animal. The birds were nearest to them, followed by the fish and reptiles, amphibians, and the checkout counter was at the back. The cats and dogs were in the back room; they both could hear them from the front door.

"Wow…" Yugi said, walking inside, "That's a lot of birds…"

"You still thinking of a cat?"

"I have no idea," Yugi said, "A cat was only a suggestion. I don't really know."

"Ah."

"You could go back and look at them," Yugi suggested, turning to Yami.

"Huh?"

"You could go look for a Siamese cat."

"But what about you?"

"I'll look at the birds," Yugi replied, eyes glancing over all the different kinds around him. "And if we both find something, we'll figure it out then."

"All right," Yami said, and he slowly started towards the back.

"You sure?" Yami asked again, halfway down the aisle.

"Yeah," Yugi replied. "I'll look at the birds."

"Okay…" Yami said, still sounding unconvinced. But he went, anyway. Yugi sighed, looked up. He was amidst a sea of cages, all with different shapes, colors, and sizes of birds. There was one that caught his eye, as its cage was at his eye level. It was pure white, except for a couple of long feathers on the top of its head, which were pink.

Yugi stared at the bird for a moment, watching it hop around inside the cage, squawking snatches of words.

"Hello," he greeted. The bird squawked, and ruffled its feathers a little.

Yugi raised an eyebrow at it.

"Hello," he said again, waving his hand this time. The bird tilted its head, and blinked at him. Obviously it wasn't getting the picture. Yugi widened his eyes as much as he possibly could, and put on his best parrot-voice;

"Hello! Hello!"

The bird was still for a couple moments, before it stepped back as far as it could on its stand, effectively shrinking back from Yugi.

"Come _on_! Say hello!" Yugi urged, as if the bird could understand plain English any better. It still didn't respond.

"Can you even understand me!" Yugi demanded. He was starting to get a little frustrated again.

Well—little was hardly the word for it. Considering all the times this very thing had happened at that god-awful job of his, it was hardly a slight disappointment when even the _bird_ wouldn't listen to him.

"Say hello, you fucking thing!" Yugi demanded, glaring as best he could at the bird. He noticed through the bars that a couple was starting to give him strange looks, and whisper.

…And the bird simply started to preen its feathers.

"Rrrrg!" Yugi exclaimed, throwing his hands up. He turned around, and saw Yami walking down the aisle.

"Come on, Aibou," he said, "We're going."

"What? Why?" Yugi asked. Yami just raised an eyebrow at him.

"For one, you're taking out your anger on a bird. And two, they don't have Siamese cats."

"Oh…fine," Yugi said, not dismissing Yami's returning annoyed tone of voice. He gave one last glance at the bird.

The bird, however, was staring very intently at something down the aisle. As Yami came up to where Yugi was standing, the bird flapped its wings, and squawked,

"Pretty!"

Yami paused, and looked down at Yugi.

"…did that bird just call you pretty?"

"No," Yugi said, feeling a smile creep up on his face, "It wasn't doing that before you came. Look!"

Sure enough, the bird had now raised the crown pink feathers on its head, almost in an imitation of Yami's hair.

"Pretty!" it squawked again. Yugi snorted, despite himself. Yami stared at the bird as it continued its display, utterly confused. After a few moments, he shook his head.

"Come on," he said again, taking Yugi's shoulders and directing him out of the store as Yugi, at this point, was laughing so hard he couldn't quite walk straight.

"Pretty!" He gasped outside the store, "and the feathers—!"

"Yeah, I saw," Yami said dryly, getting into the driver's seat of the car. Yugi followed after, trying to control himself. He couldn't quite breathe normally until they were halfway home. But that only lasted until Yami asked,

"Was it really that funny?"

Yugi tried to keep his face straight as he said, "Yes," but another fit of laughter fell out after it, making him double over in his seat again. Yami just shook his head, a small smile on his face, as he felt any annoyance he had had toward Yugi or the bird melt away, while he listened to Yugi try to control himself. He realized, too, that it had been a very long time since Yugi had laughed that hard. It was good to hear, really.

* * *

After the pet shop episode, they didn't really look at getting a pet again for a while. But things seemed to be a little more lighthearted around the apartment than they had been before—a phenomenon that Yami completely attributed to Yugi's sudden cheering up. He actually chewed out that woman at work he had been complaining about so much—Yami couldn't remember her name—and everyone else he was working with ended up thanking him for it about fifty times over, as they all had wanted to do the same thing. She quit a couple weeks later. After that, Yami didn't hear that much about co-worker troubles. 

And all the while, he puttered around the house when he wasn't leading museum-goers through Greece or the Impressionist period, making sure the flowers weren't dying on him and that the dust bunny population stayed within their borders and weren't planning a revolt anytime soon.

In other words, pretty much the same.

* * *

It was about three weeks later, when Yami was on one of his occasional weekend shifts, and Yugi was off for the day, that there was a knock on the door. 

Yugi opened it to reveal Ryou, holding a rather large birdcage and looking hopeful.

"Hi, Yugi!" Ryou said cheerfully.

"Hi," Yugi said, stepping aside to let Ryou in. He looked down at the cage Ryou brought in with him, and spotted a white bird inside.

"Who's that?" Yugi asked, shutting the door and squatting down to the bird's eye level. Immediately, the bird backed away, a little, and ruffled its feathers.

"She is mine, but…well…I don't think she's safe, at my place."

"Really?"

Ryou set the cage down, and kneeled next to Yugi, who looked over at him.

"Bakura," they said together.

"Although it's strange, because it was his birthday present to me."

Yugi's eyes widened.

"What?"

Ryou nodded, looking just as astonished.

"I don't know why he thought I would want a bird, but I like pets, and it worked out at first. But then she started saying things…"

"Things?"

"She likes to threaten people," Ryou said, cringing a little. "I don't know why, and Bakura swears he didn't do anything. I don't believe him, though. He's been causing less mischief lately, but he still does it from time to time. I definitely wouldn't put teaching her how to startle people past him. But… she likes to tell people they're under arrest, or yell 'fire'. Things like that."

"That _is_ odd…so why can't she stay with you?"

"Well," Ryou sighed, "After a while, she started to threaten Bakura only. And Bakura, even though he knows she's just a bird, took it personally. He may not seem like it, but he's very sensitive about some things."

"Wow," Yugi said, looking back at the bird. She tilted her head to the side, and gave him a very wide-eyed, very cute look.

"She doesn't look bad…"

"She really isn't," Ryou said, "Save for the swearing. But Bakura almost lost it the other day, and decided to—well… let's just say it was very cruel, and that she would have died."

"And you saved her from harm?"

Ryou nodded.

"How could I not? She didn't do anything—she just repeats what she hears. Anyway… I know you were thinking of getting a pet, so I was wondering… if you'd like to have it."

"Sure," Yugi replied after a moment. Ryou seemed very relieved.

"Thank you! I didn't want to take her back to the pet shop, as I don't know which one it was, or anything… and if I brought her back home, Bakura would attack her."

"Why do you still put up with him?" Yugi asked. "He has his own body—you're not even connected anymore."

"Well," Ryou shrugged, "Why did Yami move out with you?"

"Yami doesn't torture birds," Yugi pointed out, "Or set things on fire. Intentionally, anyway…"

"True," Ryou agreed. He then sighed. "I don't know…I guess… I still feel connected, in some way."

"Ah," Yugi replied, nodding. "I feel like that, sometimes. Not that I ever think of throwing Yami out, or anything," Yugi laughed, "This place would be a complete mess, without him."

"How is he doing, by the way?"

"He's… quiet," Yugi replied. "He doesn't talk much anymore. I'm kind of worried about it, actually. It's like he's not even here, half the time."

"Really?"

"Yeah…he'll be doing something, then just kind of stop doing it, and stare out into space. It's really weird."

"That _is_ weird—"

There was a very loud bang from outside, making Ryou flinch. They both exchanged an apprehensive glance, and got up simultaneously. Yugi opened the door, and Ryou ran out to the window on the fifth floor landing, looking down at the street outside. He then let out an angered growl that surprised Yugi in its menacing tone, and slammed his hand down on the windowsill.

"Bakura?" Yugi asked.

"Yes! I _told_ him not to—oh, never mind, I'd have to explain the flour—"

And he was off. At the bottom of the next landing down, however, he paused to turn back and say,

"Thanks for taking the bird! She did have a name, but I can't remember what it is—starts with a D, I think—I hope Yami gets better! Say hi to him for me!"

"I will!" Yugi called back, as Ryou ran the rest of the way down the stairs.

"Flour…?" Yugi asked himself. Then he shook his head. He didn't want to waste time hurting his head over it, as he often did when trying to impose reason on Bakura's actions. He simply shut the door, and looked down at the bird still sitting in her cage in the middle of the hallway. She let out a small chirp and flapped her wings, looking up at Yugi with large, trusting eyes.

"You look really familiar…" Yugi said, picking up her cage, "Don't know why, though."

He eventually found a convenient spot for the bird where she could see things, and perhaps fly around outside of her cage a bit, when Yugi had found out a little more about white birds with pink feathers on their heads—whatever they were called…he went to go check.

It wasn't long after that when the front door slammed shut again, followed by the jingling of keys.

"Hey, Yami!" Yugi shouted from the computer in Yami's room.

"Hi," Yami replied, walking in. "Surfing?"

"Searching," Yugi said, swiveling around in the desk chair to face Yami. "Go look in the kitchen."

Yami immediately turned around, and made his way over. A few moments later, Yugi heard,

"What the—!"

"Yeah, she does look kind of weird," Yugi called out, eyes glued back to the screen, "It says here she's a cockatoo."

"And do all cockatoos like to label someone as 'pretty'?" Yami asked, as he walked across the living room and stuck his head in the door, "or do I just have that effect on them?"

Yugi turned to a slightly annoyed Yami for a moment, confused. Then—

"The pet shop!" He exclaimed. "I _thought _I had seen her before!"

"You didn't get her from there?" Yami asked.

"Ryou gave it to me; he said that Bakura got as a birthday gift for Ryou, but he ended up getting annoyed with it after a while. Ryou wouldn't say what Bakura was doing to do to it, but he said it was really mean. It must have been, if Ryou was trying to find a better home for it."

"Huh," Yami said thoughtfully. "I didn't think Bakura would remember Ryou's birthday…"

Yugi shrugged.

"Neither would I."

"The Bakura I remember had a scheming, evil mind."

"Well," Yugi said, watching his information print out, onto the printing tray next to him, "Maybe living _with_ Ryou instead of _possessing_ him has a good effect."

"Living without the power of the items might subdue him, too."

Yami's tone of voice changed so drastically with that last comment that Yugi looked up. Yami had crossed his arms and was leaning against the doorway, his expression somewhere between deep thought and sadness.

"Yami?"

Yami blinked.

"Huh?"

"You all right?"

Yami gave his head a shake.

"Yeah," he said, distantly, "I'm fine."

But Yugi didn't buy it.

"You've been acting really odd lately," he stated, watching Yami. "You sure?"

Yami nodded, and flashed a crooked smile at Yugi.

"I'm fine," he repeated. He then wandered out of the doorway into the living room.

Yugi stared at the doorway for a moment, thinking about just how much he missed that mind link…

* * *

Yami made his way to the kitchen again, as they could hardly get a cup under the faucet from all the dishes piled up. It was amazing how fast that happened. 

And so, he started his weekly ritual of washing the dishes. And like always, his mind wandered off into itself, flying through snippets of half-forgotten memories, musings, and philosophies.

Unfortunately, when he was thinking this deeply about things, his dish washing tended to get a little careless. And this time was no different; he felt the cup slipping from his grasp, and his mind was jolted back to reality. He tried to save it, but his hands were too soapy and the cup too wet to get any kind of grip on it.

"Shit!" Yami exclaimed, the cup made a loud, popping crash on the floor.

So much for smooth.

Not that he was aiming for it, but… that was the third dish he had broken. A little more of that smooth and cool thing he had when playing a strategy game would have been helpful now...

Grumbling to himself, he bent down to pick the shards up. But before he even reached the first jagged piece, he heard a squawky voice say,

"Rodrigo Tortilla! You kill me!"

Yami stood slowly, and looked at the bird.

"…_What?_"

"Rodrigo Tortilla! You kill me!" she repeated. Yami frowned.

"…That's quite a sentence for a bird," he said, walking over to the cockatoo. She squawked again, flapping her wings and raising the crown of feathers on her head.

"Pretty!"

Yami's eyes narrowed a little, and he pointed a soapy finger at the bird.

"_That's_ starting to get annoying," he said.

The cockatoo just tilted her head to the side, and blinked.

"Rawk! Pretty! Rawk!"

Yami sighed, and went to pick up the pieces.

"You're lucky you're a parrot," he said, "Otherwise I'd have done something to you ages ago."

"Rawk!"

Yami stood up again, and carefully walked over to the garbage can.

"Yeah, you know what I'm talking about."

"Rawk!"

"I'm sure you wouldn't like the shadow realm much, either."

…she didn't respond to that.

"Hah" Yami laughed triumphantly. Then he remembered with a pang of sadness that he couldn't really use that as a threat anymore. All he could do now was make the lights wink out when he wanted to.

He picked up a plate, and tried to forget about it.

* * *

Later that evening, Yami and Yugi both looked over the information Yugi had printed out about cockatoos, and their care. Yami remembered reading something about parrots in one of the many books he had bought on his own. 

"Which one is it?" Yugi asked, who had just come back with a cup of water in hand.

"It's right next to you—the blue on with the gold lettering on the side…Yeah, that one."

Yugi pulled the book out with one hand, but then promptly dropped it, as it was much heavier than he expected.

"Eep!" Yugi squeaked, as a the book fell to the ground with a loud bang. Immediately, they both heard,

"Rodrigo Tortilla! You kill me! Rawk!"

Yugi stared at the doorway to the kitchen.

"…Did that bird just say what I thought it said?"

"Yeah," Yami said. "I broke another cup earlier and she said the same thing."

Yugi slowly approached the kitchen, his expression apprehensive. When he got to the doorway, he crept over the threshold as quietly as he could.

But the cockatoo, upon seeing him, flapped her wings loudly and shouted,

"Ve haff vays of makink yoo talk!" in a perfect Russian accent.

Yugi's eyes widened, and he jumped.

"What on earth!"

"Or off it," Yami added, walking up behind Yugi. "No wonder Bakura liked her."

"Unless he taught her," Yugi said. But Yami just shook his head.

"No…Bakura would teach her something shocking in old Egyptian, then set her loose on me. I don't think he even knows how to imitate a Russian accent."

The cockatoo flapped her wings again and squawked,

"Hands up! You're under arrest!"

"…Okay," Yugi said, "Ryou told me about that phrase—oh," he stepped forward, as Yami had tried to get through between him and the doorframe, "Sorry."

But Yami wasn't listening. He was frowning slightly, and staring at the bird.

"Maybe we should ask the pet shop if they know anything about this."

"That's what I was thinking," Yugi replied. "Or if there's a way to get a cockatoo to unlearn things."

"Thundering Typhoons! No more whiskey!"

"…I'm going to ask, tomorrow morning." Yami said, giving the bird a very strange look.

"…Is 'Thundering Typhoons' even a phrase?" Yugi wondered aloud. Yami shrugged, as he walked out of the kitchen.

"I have no idea."

* * *

The next morning, at a very early ten o'clock, Yami prepared to drive to the pet shop for the second time. 

"And you're not going to go waste all your gas driving around for an hour?"

"No," Yami replied, pulling the keys off the living room table, "I have no one with me, and I've been there once already. I'll get there faster."

Yugi just rolled his eyes, then said,

"You know what the really strange thing is?"

"What?" Yami asked, pulling his coat out of the closet.

"We almost look the same, and yet she only says that around you."

"Well," Yami said, facing Yugi and holding his arms out, "_Am_ I pretty?"

Yugi just blinked, and stared at Yami.

"…Never mind," Yami concluded, "Maybe I _don't _want to know."

"Good choice," Yugi said, coming up to the door, "Because I would have said yes."

Yami paused in the middle of the fifth floor landing, and looked back at Yugi with a concerned look on his face.

"In…a feminine way? Or a masculine way?"

Yugi tried to hide a laugh, as he said,

"You don't want to know that, either, Yami. Just go find out about the bird."

"But—"

"Go!" Yugi laughed, giving Yami a shove toward the stairs. And before Yami could protest any more, Yugi had shut the door and locked it.

Of course, it was on Yami's mind the entire roundabout time it took him to get to the pet shop. And it was only when he got out of the car that he had tentatively convinced himself that Yugi had meant in a masculine way, and that it was another word for 'handsome'. He could live with that. _Girly_ pretty, though… he didn't know...

His rationalizations weren't helped by the fact that he had noticed many more guys giving him 'the look' than girls. He shook his head, and tried to focus on the cockatoo they were trying to find out about. He could pester Yugi about that when he got back home.

The little bell tinkled merrily as Yami stepped through the door. The man at the back counter looked up, and smiled.

"Hello!" he said, "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Yes, actually," Yami said, walking to the back of the shop. "I have a question about a white cockatoo that was bought from here, around a week ago...?"

"…Did you buy it?" the man asked, frowning a little. "I seem to remember you coming in here for—"

"No, I didn't buy it," Yami interrupted, "But I've kind of ended up with it. The person it was a present for didn't want it, and my friend offered to take it."

"I see," the man said heavily, "A common mistake people make. I can't tell you how many times I've received perfectly healthy pets from people who got them as a Christmas present a couple years ago, then got rid of them because they really didn't want them in the first place."

"Really?" Yami asked.

"Oh, yes," the man replied, "It happens all the time."

"Wow," Yami said. He didn't know why anyone would refuse an animal; personally, he'd be thrilled if he got a pet for his birthday.

Then again, he'd always had an uncommon weakness for anything that needed looking after. Hence, the upkeep of someone else's plants they had abandoned, and the acceptance of a bird into his apartment that he had had no say in the decision of its staying.

"So, what can I help you with?"

"Oh," Yami said, blinking, "Um…about this bird…she likes to threaten people a lot."

"Ah, yes," the man said, nodding. "I was wondering when someone would come in asking about that. I've had her returned three times already for the same thing."

"…Oh," Yami said. "I wasn't thinking of returning her, though… It's just a little unnerving, when she starts yelling, 'Rodrigo Tortilla, you kill me,' or something like that. And according to what my friend and I looked up, cockatoos usually don't speak that well anyway—if at all."

"Well," the man said, "She's a very special case. She came to us from the landlady of the previous owner's apartment. He was apparently a big name in the South American drug ring, and he was hiding out here for a little bit. The person he was hiding from caught him—that's Rodrigo Tortilla—and he apparently killed the owner. Next thing you know, the landlady's trying to figure out what to do with all his belongings. No one came for them."

"…So, she's reiterating what she's heard from her drug ring days?" Yami asked tentatively.

"Yes," the man said. "She's a very unique bird."

"Huh," Yami said, frowning a little. "So where does 'pretty' come in?"

"Pardon?"

"She likes to put up her feathers and say, 'pretty', whenever she sees me."

The man stared at him for a moment.

"Well…" he said, "I don't know what to tell you, um…maybe she likes your hair, or something along those lines. It _is_ very…unique."

Yami almost started to tell him that he hadn't really chosen this hair; rather, it had been adapted by his possessing Yugi's body before being given his own…but that would take a lot of explaining. He probably wouldn't get it, anyway, and he probably wouldn't take Yami's ability to make the lights blink as proof. So he just said,

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," the man replied.

And so, Yami got some things they would need for the bird, and paid for them. He was walking out of the shop, going through his mental checklist of things he needed to do here when he suddenly remembered something.

"Oh! By the way," he said, turning around, "Ryou—well, the person my friend got her from—said she had a name that you gave her. What is it?"

"Well, her name came from the previous owner," the man said, "He called her Darcy."

"Darcy…" Yami repeated. "Thank you."

"Thank _you_," The man replied.

* * *

"A South American drug dealer?" Yugi repeated. 

"Yep," Yami said, coming down from the kitchen chair, the cage in hand. "That's what he said."

"That's…different…" Yugi said. "So it wasn't Bakura, after all."

"Nope," Yami said.

"Pretty!" Darcy squawked, looking up at Yami, crown of feathers spread out.

"Nice to see you, too," Yami said. Then he added, "I heard that," to Yugi.

"Sorry—" Yugi said between hidden laughs.

Yami just rolled his eyes, and set the cage on the kitchen table.

"Pretty! Pretty!"

Yugi laughed out loud.

"I think you'll be interested to know that the man at the shop didn't have any explanation for Darcy's calling me 'pretty'," Yami said. "Other than my hair."

"But I have the same hair!" Yugi said, controlling his fit of giggles. "That wouldn't make sense."

"Which leads me back to what you said before, about my being pretty."

"Take it as a complement," Yugi said.

"It depends on what kind of pretty you were talking about."

"I told you, you didn't want to know," Yugi said, trying to keep his face straight.

"It was in a feminine way, wasn't it?" Yami asked, crossing his arms. Yugi broke out in another fit of laughter.

"I'm sorry—!" he gasped, "It's just—ahem!" He exclaimed, as he started to choke. Yami just waited for him to stop, eyebrow raised. When Yugi finally looked at him again, he was red in the face.

"It's just…you kind of look like that, sometimes."

"Like a girl?" Yami asked flatly, arms still crossed.

"No," Yugi said, "More like…a feminine guy, really."

Yami shook his head, as Yugi started laughing again.

"Pretty!" Darcy chirped, as Yami opened the cage door to let her walk around a bit.

"I hardly know what you're talking about," Yami replied.

* * *

The next day, Yugi found Yami sitting on the couch, book in his hands…but he wasn't really reading. Instead, he was merely sitting there, eyes glazed over, staring ahead at something that wasn't really there. 

It wasn't the first time this had happened; in fact, it was exactly what he had told Ryou about. It had happened countless times since they had moved here, and a little before then, too…

Now, he walked over to Yami, and waved a hand in front of his face.

"Hey, Yami! Wake up!"

Yami blinked, and looked over at Yugi.

"Oh," he said. "Hi…"

He shook his head, blinked a couple more times, then went back to his book. Yugi sat down on the couch next to him.

"Yami?"

"Yeah?"

"Something is bothering you."

"No…" Yami said, eyes still on the book. Yugi sighed, and yanked the book out of Yami's grasp.

"Wha—?"

"What's wrong?"

Yami felt his shoulders slump, as Yugi almost glared at him.

"You're acting depressed," Yugi said.

Yami frowned.

"Depressed?"

"That's what it looks like to me," Yugi replied.

Yami shook his head.

"I wouldn't call it depressed…seriously," he added, noticing Yugi's skeptical look. "More like… trains of thought that get really… deep and confusing."

Yugi raised an eyebrow.

"I still think you're acting depressed. Or something's wrong, at least."

Yami shrugged, and took his book back from Yugi.

"I was just thinking. That's all."

Yugi didn't push it any further than that, even though Yami got the sense that he wanted to. Probably had to go in to work—it was around when his shift started.

Sure enough, Yugi said his goodbye not soon after, and left Yami alone in the house. After a while, Yami came to a stopping point in his book, and got up to go into the kitchen—just for a change of scenery.

"Depressed…" Yami muttered, laughing a little. He heard a flapping of wings from behind him, and turned around to see Darcy giving him an inquisitive look.

"Do you think I'm depressed?" Yami asked. Darcy cocked her head to the side, and blinked.

"Well, _I_ don't think I am," Yami announced, sitting down at the table. "I mean, yeah, it's hard when you lose your memory that you got back for a brief period of time, and part of yourself, and your powers…and end up having a ton of time to yourself to think about how you miss them all…" He blinked, and looked at the bird again.

She sat, rapt and attentive.

"Okay," Yami sighed, putting his head in his hand, "Maybe I am."

"Rawk!"

Yami turned to her, startled.

"…Were you just waiting for me to admit it?"

"Rawk!"

Yami laughed again, and shook his head.

"What more could someone want in a bird? You swear, you threaten, and you council on top of it."

Darcy started preening herself.

"And you know it, too," Yami said. He then shook his head, and opened his book he had brought with him to the page he had left off at.

"Soon I'll be telling you _all_ my problems," he continued, finding his place in the book, "Not that I have many. I don't have many deep dark secrets, either."

He started to read.

…and put it down again, soon after.

"I do have _one _secret," he said, looking up at Darcy, "I can't really tell anyone about it—well, I have to tell Yugi, because it has to do with him, but I have to wait for the right time to say it. One of those things I don't want to mess up. You know how that is, right?"

"Rawk!"

"Of course you do," Yami said. "You're a bird."

Darcy didn't say anything. Yami looked up to find her still staring at him, almost as if she were waiting for something.

"…_do_ you want to hear my problems?"

"Rawk! Rawk!" Darcy replied, shaking her head up and down. Yami's eyes widened.

"My god," he said, "You're nodding!"

Darcy nodded again.

"Wow," Yami said, blinking. "I guess I have to, now…"

And so, strange as it was, Yami started talking to Darcy who, Yami realized after a while, wasn't squawking, or moving, or…anything. She was merely listening, as though every word interested her. It was more than a little unnerving…yet strangely comforting, at the same time. And it wasn't like he was talking about anything in particular—he was just… talking.

"…I mean, I'm not even sure if I, the person sitting here, is even supposed to be called 'Pharaoh Atem'." He used his hands to imitate quotation marks around the name. "Did he die five thousand years ago? And if so, who am I? And am I the same person that came out of the millennium puzzle?

"It's just really weird…If I just saw these changes over a period of time, I'd just say it was me changing, and getting older, I guess. But I literally felt something fall out of me, in Egypt—Modern day, I mean—and I actually looked down on the ground to see if I had a cut, or something, and if it was bleeding onto the sand. But there was nothing. Just… parts of me, I guess. I don't even know.

"That's what I'm thinking about, when I zone out like that. You know, when Yugi has to snap me out of it. I'm thinking about how different I am than when I came out of the puzzle. Technically, I'm not even supposed to be here, still. The only reason why I am is because Yugi pulled me out…"

He looked up at Darcy. She was still watching him. He looked over at the clock.

"You've been sitting sill, listening to me for almost an hour and a half," Yami said. "That's a pretty long time for a cockatoo."

Darcy blinked, and tilted her head to the side.

"Then again, you're not really like the average cockatoo, are you?"

"Rawk!"

Yami sighed.

"Well," he said, shifting in his seat, "I guess I've told you all my problems…I guess you'd want to hear abut that secret I have, wouldn't you?"

Darcy flapped her wings, and squawked a couple times.

"I'll take that as a yes," Yami said. He leaned over across the table, and looked Darcy in the eye as well as he could. Darcy, in turn, hopped onto the floor of her cage, and peered down at Yami.

"Okay," Yami whispered loudly so that Darcy could still hear, "Here it is…"

* * *

"I'm home!" Yugi called out that evening. "Where are you?" 

"Kitchen!" Yami called back. A few seconds later, Yugi was sitting down at the kitchen table, his back to Darcy's cage. He was frowning at a piece of paper.

"Something funny's going on with my bank account," he said.

"Oh, really?" Yami asked idly, as he dried dishes and put them away.

"Yeah…I don't remember putting any of these amounts in. There's five on my receipt, but I only remember two of them!"

"Huh," Yami replied again, idly.

"I think someone else has my account number… but instead of taking money out, they're…putting money in? It doesn't make sense."

"That is weird." Yami said.

Suddenly, Darcy started flapping her wings and hopping around in her cage, and squawked,

"All for Yugi! Rawk!"

Yami froze in putting a cup away.

"…_What_ did you say, Darcy?" Yami heard Yugi's voice ask.

"All for Yugi! All for college! Rawk!"

Yami inwardly cringed. He shoved the cup onto the shelf, and turned to raise an eyebrow at the bird.

"Well," he said crisply, "That's the last time I'm telling _you_ anything."

Darcy just flapped her wings. "Rawk! All for college! Rawk!"

Yami felt even more heat creep up his face.

"You told the bird _what_?" Yugi asked. "Yami?"

Yami just turned around, avoiding Yugi's searching gaze.

"…You _didn't_," Yugi said. Yami cleared his throat, and started putting the dishes away again. He felt a hand grab his arm, and Yugi's voice say,

"Yami—that's your money!"

Yami shrugged again, ignoring Yugi's hand on his arm.

"I wasn't _doing_ anything with it…and you're working for a year before going to college. You need it." He said to the plastic cup in his hands.

"But you can't just give it all to me! What if you need something? What if—what if you want something?

"I don't really need anything more," Yami replied, his back turned to Yugi. "I've got a neat job I learn a lot about in, I've got Darcy, I've got a place to live, I've got—" Yami caught the word before it escaped, and forced it back down his throat. He had a feeling that if he said 'you', things would be very awkward indeed.

Plus, it would make him blush more, and he wasn't sure that he liked the feeling of his face burning off all that much.

"A lot of things," he finished.

"Yami…" Yugi protested. "That's… nice of you, and all, but—this is my college. And what about emergencies? You realize that you can't take it back once I've used it for books, or something… what if something happens?"

Yami paused in putting a plate away. He hadn't thought of that… and hadn't he taken some kind of money management thing, when he was being trained for pharaoh? Granted, the currency was just a tad different, but the concepts were still the same…

Then again, was it really concepts he was using here? Was logic even playing a part in all this?

Yami guessed it wasn't. How else could he not think about all the possibilities? Wasn't he supposed to be good at that kind of thing?

"…I don't understand—" Yugi said. "I—it's nice of you, but…it's just not making sense."

Yami sighed, and turned to face Yugi. He put his hands on his shoulders, and just stared at him for a moment, wondering how else he could make him see.

Maybe words weren't the answer, after all. Maybe…in a time like this, actions really were what made all the difference. And really, Yami could think of only one action that summed up everything he was trying to say.

"By what I did, I mean this, Yugi," Yami said, staring straight into his eyes, "Nothing less."

And with that, he closed his eyes and went for it.

Yugi inhaled sharply, when their lips met. He tensed a little, unmoving. Yami was still with him, holding his breath as he waited for some kind of reaction... none came.

Yami pulled back. He laughed weakly at Yugi's expression—he looked shocked beyond belief.

"I know—an old pharaoh from Egypt shouldn't be doing this kind of thing."

He let his hands drop from Yugi's shoulders.

"But… a part of me slipped away, when we walked away from my tomb. Ever since then I've been trying to figure out what part of me that was. Now I'm beginning to wonder if it was my straight side."

He smiled crookedly at his joke, and searched Yugi's features for some kind of response.

"…Maybe I should just stop talking," he said, as he felt his face flush yet again. His eyes darted around the kitchen, desperate for a change of subject.

"Anyway," he finally said, pointing awkwardly to the dishes, "They're clean."

When Yugi didn't say anything to that, Yami took it as his excuse to slowly shuffle out of the kitchen, eyes lingering for a moment on Darcy before he went through the door. She simply blinked, giving Yami her best innocent look. Yami decided he'd talk to her later, about that.

He hadn't made it across the threshold when he heard a strangely small voice say,

"Wait—"

Yami paused in mid-step. He heard Yugi walk over, and felt his hand pull Yami around to face him.

"Yes?" Yami asked.

But Yugi didn't say anything. He just searched Yami's eyes for a moment, though Yami didn't know what he was looking for. He felt like he didn't know anything, right now, other than the fact that maybe Yugi was getting closer to him—but that was probably just his imagination.

"Um…" Yami said, looking down again. He needed to do something about his face…like dunk it in ice water.

"Yami."

Yami looked up again.

Yugi was suddenly so close to Yami that he could feel his breath whispering across his neck and chin. Suddenly, things became too blurry for Yami to bother with keeping his eyes open over. He felt like he was falling forward over an immeasurable distance, until—

Everything was still and silent, as the sensation of Yugi's lips against his own overwhelmed him, thrilled him, weakened him. His arms found their way around Yugi's waist and pulled him closer, as he reveled in how slow, and soft, and graceful, and…_wonderful_ it all was.

And while his body was off in its momentary state of bliss, a thought came floating into his mind—a very bizarre thought.

If it hadn't been for Darcy, he wouldn't have told Yugi until he had figured it out on his own. Darcy broke the ice. And hadn't Darcy been the one to pull Yugi out of his moody spell, when she had first seen Yami at the pet shop? He had laughed harder that day than he ever had since the day he had graduated High School. And telling Darcy about what he had been depressed about somehow made it less of an issue to worry over. It all made sense, in a very strange way.

And in the corner of the kitchen, the strange little cockatoo ruffled her white feathers, and quietly turned the other way.

This was a private moment, after all.

* * *

A/N: Yeah, it's really long, but I didn't want to split it up... 

BTW-- in case anyone's wondering...

"Rodrigo Tortilla! You kill me!" is originally from the comic Tintin, by Herge. It is said by a parrot that a man Tintin finds dead once owned. What the man did, I don't remember. But the parrot gave Tintin the lead that eventually got him to the bottom of whatever mystery he was trying to solve. Why the parrot's single line and not the main story stayed with me, I do not know.

"Thundering Typhoons! No more whiskey!" is the other phrase that came from this same series. It was said by Captain Haddock in some way, shape, or form in every single adventure he's in, I'm sure.

Everything else I came up with--save the sentence I was working from. And, of course, the original characters. But that's assumed, considering where it's posted.

Until next time, everyone.

Tremp


End file.
